SerenityShimikaBlack

Pretty much doesn't accurately follow the manhua from episode 1! Big plot lines are still relatively the same, but there are additional new characters (Liyen, Shuyu, Haodu, etc). I would say the drama is more inspired by the manhua than actually a replication of it.

That's just mad! Just cause they don't want to ship them, they decide to hate Reba. Hardly fair to Reba or Luhan. Their friendship shouldn't be dictated by fan preference. Also these individuals undoubtable have a public image v their private life; the fact that these fans have completely blurred the line between public and private is truly demented. Sorry to bother you but, who's Sehun?

This is why I continue to come back to this page! :)

So people were hating on Reba because she was paired with Luhan? Was that really it! Really these people have too much time on their hands and even if it was true, it's none of their business. I thought they were cute and had nice camaraderie and chemistry in EXO, but I certainly never felt the need to emotionally invest myself into actively hating on one of them simply cause I didn't want them to be paired together. These fans are mental!

I wouldn't dare say history should be disregarded, but when the criticism of the story and plot is based on the inaccuracies in depicting the glorious Tang Dynasty as weak or misinterpreted is rather unfair. As a fictional piece based on historical events, the drama is not an accurate representation of history and is not intended to be so. Furthermore, this isn't a political historical drama. You could loosely considered TLB a kind of revisionist historical drama, but even then this is just a story that happens to be based in the Tang Dynasty and has real historical figures. What the characters do or act like is not a realistic representation of history. If someone wants accurate history then they should be watching a documentary, not a drama. Also the review that I read just seemed to be arguing that by misrepresented the Tang Dynasty as weak or inglorious was an injustice to the greatness of the dynasty; which realistically no dynasty was perfect. I'm not saying history isn't important, but to criticise the drama solely on its historical accuracy seemed to be far fetch and grossly felt like it never gave the drama a chance.
I've read more than dozens of historical fiction and authors always state that nothing that happens in their books is a realistic depiction of what happened in history. Their stories are only inspired by history and set in a historical setting. I've never really read a review criticising an author for inaccurately depicting history in fiction, especially one so critical and felt rather a bit like propaganda.

Fair and thank you for voicing your opinions here! I've watched dramas that people absolutely love and recommend, but I won't be able to get into after the first few episodes as I find it boring. Everyone has there own special taste

So I've found out by first hand experience unfortunately. :( Was hoping to see if there was any constructive criticism, but it was a fail. Just surprised by how blatant the trolling is, it was pretty much like that for the majority of comments that I saw

People can be cruel for no reason unfortunately. Thank you for tell me ('not worth it, and is not good our mental health' - it's true and just needed the reminder and perspective), I'm not angry just somewhat frustrated, but yours and Linh's comments have really helped dissipate some of the disappointment. :)

I really hope she wins big acting award as that's pretty much the only way to shut up everyone that's her anti! She really deserves it. It's true Douban is pretty inconsequential at least career wise. Both Wu Lei and her are definitely on the rise career wise currently and I look forward to their future projects.

There's just so many factors involved in the low rating. Haha I knew I shouldn't have read any review on Douban, but I took a peek and now definitely feeling the bruises. It's true as well, here on mydramalist a bit on other drama pages. It just feels like there this anti-TLB movement that's rearing it's head by insulting others that like TLB, which is completely not okay.

Just posted cause I needed to vent it out with like minded individuals :)

Lol Thanks! Unfortunately been in the midst of exams and writing my thesis. Only popped back in today as a reward for finish an exam yesterday. Still have two more exams to go. :'( Thank goodness my thesis isn't due till July 1!

The scoring on Douban, I feel is like those made by movie critics. It's a highly influential platform in the industry. However not every comment on there is made by industry insiders. It's probably more influential in China because it's just the more easily accessible reviewing platform both in terms of language and it not being blocked by the censorship maybe. Most of my asian friends only look at movie ratings on Douban. High reviews on Douban tend to be for artsy or social criticism films, so its a very different viewership platform. Dramas are just entertainment but some people are simply highly critical individuals and very opinionated about what they believe is wrong or right. I personally don't like commenting about ratings as reviews are a big reflection of personal preferences, not fact. But the historical inaccurate review I just read really got me. Was it really necessary...?! I don't think so cause this is not a f*ing documentary! Also there's so many people that take a drama and dissect it down into bits and pieces or compared TLB to the manhua, that I just feel like they never gave this drama a chance. The fan wars between Reba fans and Lusi fans doesn't help either. I also can't help but feel like they are trashing the drama simply because it has so many famous actors in it. It's like the jealousy and distastes towards high celebrity-ism. The age difference apparently was a huge turn off for people and some just couldn't feel the chemistry. Agh sorry I could go on talking about this for ages. :(

OMG seriously why does Douban only have a 6.2 rating for this drama! Just reading the comments alone on that website leaves me wondering how there can be so much distaste for TLB. Whether it's because of the age difference between our Gesun actors in real life or fan hate for either Reba or Lusi, or historical inaccuracies (this one got me cause why the f* is history important in a fictional piece! Apparently the Tang wasn't portrayed proudly in all it's glory enough...) and etc. I get that people are reacting to some extent against the whole fan rave about this drama or just want to say their piece. That's perfectly fine as everyone has different opinions, but it's just so sad to see them put in so much effort to regurgitate and trash such a good drama. :( My poor Gesun heart *crack*

Sorry I just needed to rant. This does not mean I do not respect or value the views of others that do not like this drama.

To be frank any kinda rating scale is highly dependent on the audience's personal preference. Douban and Mydramalist are just indicators to me. Any sort of rating site can be highly influenced by fan wars, ships, etc. It's funny how everyone has so many different expectations when watching drama and to be quite frank not everyone can be satisfied. It's interesting that you call us international viewers all shallow when that's not necessarily the reasons or justification for why this drama has been so underrated. Huge stars tend to attract more attention in dramas and bring in more audience viewers. This is particularly true in the case of the Long Ballad and even the Word of Honour. But I only was able to get into watching and finishing the Long Ballad and not the Word of Honour. The Long Ballad isn't a terrible or useless drama, it had it's own message and storyline; you just don't like it and I respect that. Furthermore, the niche of crime investigative historical dramas is not everyone's cup of tea. I personally do find this drama to be refreshing (still having to catch up and finish it), but I have every expectations that this will be a well put together story. So please no need to insult all viewers abroad for their own opinions and preferences, everyone is different and like different things. It's like if someone who hates sweets foods calls everyone else that do like sweet foods wrong or weird for liking what they like. You can agree to disagree, but there is no need to insult and stereotype people.

I have watched it before! I found it a funny and light watch. Completely didn't realise that the ml there was Alen Feng. That's such a hugely different character than Shuyu here. Wow he's a really versatile actor.

It could literally be any one of us, as I don't see myself not coming back to the page in the future sometimes just to relive TLB all over again :)

Lol we really do have such similar taste Dragnelia! :)

I have! Really liked Game of Thrones and have even read most of the books a long time ago before it became a tv series. Nice analogy! Ultimately for Daenerys, she was unable to escape from the curse of power/the iron throne or insanity (absolute power corrupts absolutely). Like you said she 'kept going' and would have burned the world down without regard in her rage. The only Targaryen left alive to have escaped from the curse is Jon and he had to kill Daenarys :'(

The split in half mask of tragedy/comedy really fits Yichengs ending; she's not sure whether to laugh or cry at where life has led her in that last moment before the fire. She has nothing to laugh or smile about as she has not been able to achieve anything, but she has lost everything, even her son's loyalty, thus cannot even muster up the ability to cry.

She's also the foil to Changge. In many ways Yicheng is what Changge could have become if she had to follow the conventional route of a dutiful princess. She's an individual trapped within her own tragedy, but her villainy is in her choices to seek power and prestige without regards for the lives of other including her own son. Unfortunately the progression of her growth into a culminating final villain is just not fulfilled by the story. Her ending is unfulfilling and too contrived as they rushed to the end.

The cliched evil V-eyebrows they added to Yicheng's looks didn't help either. It just made me laugh when I saw them. *face palm*